Bill Splitter

[Queynte13]

AIBU to think that the person who suggests splitting a bill evenly is usually the person who benefits from it the most?

Went out for a meal last night. I was driving so I wasn't drinking. I've not been very well lately, which means I'm struggling to eat large amounts so I just had a starter and a side dish. Genuinely not a budgetary issue, I didn't even finish all my food.

The others at the table were drinking bottles of Prosecco and pints.

The bill comes and someone says "that's £30 each". Mine came to £10! This person was drinking and I noticed their portion of the bill was the highest out of everyone (others refused to split evenly in the end).

The worst bit was that everyone scarpered and the waitress returned to the table and told me the bill was short!

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl

KiwiDramaQueen I "selectively" quoted because your post was long and long quotes are irritating. You can't on the one hand talk about how excruitating it is to itemise and then flippantly say you take into account who has had less when suggesting splitting the bill equally. Which is it?

but thats what a lot of us have said and is perfectly easy.

Allocating say 50 items out to 8 people is a ton of hassle (3 courses, sides, drinks, coffees)

But splitting it evenly then saying +£10 for the drinkers, - £10 for the non-drinkers, is pretty simple and means most people think its fair. I may be a few quid +- on this basis but it don;t feel ripped off. I am just glad its not 30 mins going over a bill at the end!

Uh huh. As I said, it's a certain type who finds it ever so hard to itemise but is simultaneously sure who had what and therefore what a fair split is.

We normally split the bill but always adjust it if someone is driving or not drinking. Why should they sub other people’s drinks?

I just felt so awkward. It was a celebration for a friend and this person was her friend, but not someone I'd met before. I didn't want to be that person so I just went along with it until someone else pointed out it wasn't fair.

She then had a face like a smacked arse when she had to pay her share.

Please be that person! We all need to be that person, like the someone who pointed it out.

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl

Uh huh. As I said, it's a certain type who finds it ever so hard to itemise but is simultaneously sure who had what and therefore what a fair split is.

well no, we just trust people to say "i didn't drink".

Honestly, try itemising a 100 item bill for 12-13 without a spreadsheet, after a few glasses of wine. I mean i am an accountant and its impossible to do it correctly without a spreadsheet. have to mark all items as claimed (and split say bottles of wine) and allocate tip.

Not always; recent meal we went to the till and told the waitress what we had each had and paid separately. Was very quick. At the end she found one coffee unaccounted for (mine, oops), so I paid that. A couple of us were driving/don’t drink so no one expected equal sharing of the bill.

My point was it doesn't come ready divided as described in the quote. You had to ask to pay separately at the till which is different.

Love these stories.

@burnoutbabe

It's often not easy to split any bill.

Shared bottles of wine. Or a bread service at the start. Or people sharing starters. Plus the service charge.

It's often really not possible to just go to the till and say " I had this 3 items" in a clean way. Unless you all plan from the start that you would all be doing separate bills and ensure no "complicated" items.

So doing a rough split with adjustments for non drinkers is easiest. Make sure you all eat about the same for ease if splitting is your group normal.

When I'm out with friends and we get separate bills we don't split bottles of wine - we each order our own drinks. Sometimes different people will each order a starter for the table and ask the waiter to put it on their bill. Usually two or three different people (depending on how many are in the group) will do that. It's really not difficult.

Yabu. If I spend more, I pay more. Always..

I think the way to go is to either round up to the nearest 5 or 10, or split it between two or three who've been sat together or shared wine, then hand over the money.

Nowadays soft drinks tend to be just as expensive as alcohol.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

My friends and I always split. I cannot abide induvidual bills, it rarely adds up at the end and theres always money outstanding. I actually hate it so much that if im out with colleagues and then want to pay induvidually ill offer to pay at the end and just pay whatevers left, regardless if its more than ive had or not.

But if you do individual bills there is nothing to add up?

I’m torn, if I’m out with my friends we tend to just split the bill+tip as we’re usually eating similar things and don’t tend to have booze.

If I’m out and the children are there too, I hate splitting. A few of my friends don’t have children, and there’s no way I expect anybody to cover the bill created by my locusts. Mind you, I have one friend who I have to fight to even get hold of the bill - he’s from a culture where it’s seen as A Good Thing to pay the bill when eating out with children. I have only managed to win about twice in over a decade, and they were sneaky hard-won victories.